


i just want you to dance with me tonight

by louistomlinsons



Series: sorority au [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Fluff, Fraternities & Sororities, Genderswap, Girl Direction, I can't believe that's a real tag, Prank Wars, Useless Lesbians, lirry friendship, yes i can
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-10-31 08:09:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17845646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/louistomlinsons/pseuds/louistomlinsons
Summary: The sorority au no one asked for. Featuring a prank war, Lirry friendship, and useless lesbians.





	i just want you to dance with me tonight

**Author's Note:**

> For [Nikki](http://hazzaskilt.tumblr.com/), for always encouraging me to write these lesbians. go forth n be gay
> 
> I wanted to make a sorority au that didn't perpetuate stereotypes. Besides the thirst for blood during recruitment, everyone is all about girl power and women empowering women I swear.  
> Alternatively called “disaster gays but make it greek”

“Did you hear that Beta finally has a new recruitment chair?” Liam asks, taking a sip of her iced coffee. They’re seated in the coffee shop on campus, multiple notebooks spread across the table as they try and figure out how to plan rush week and bid day.

They’ve technically been planning since the spring semester ended, but it’s just a month away now. It’s the beginning of September and they’ve got twenty six days to figure how they’re gonna get approximately thirty five girls to rush their sorority instead of the five others on campus.

“No, I didn’t,” Harry mumbles distractedly. She’s typing furiously in her document labeled “ _ bid day!!!!!!!!!!!!!! new mems 4 dayz :))) _ ” and texting their president about how much glitter is too much glitter to be ordering. “Met her yet?”

Harry vaguely remembers that Beta’s last recruitment chair had dropped out after some sort of mental breakdown over a calculus exam only two weeks into the semester. Poor girl, Harry had thought at the time, but had secretly been hoping they wouldn't be able to get their act together by rush week. Less competition, and all.

“Not yet,” Liam answers, flipping through her planner. She somehow flip-flopped some dates in her planner and has been trying to sort them out for the past half hour. “Niall suggests we all meet later in the week for coffee and to get to know each other.”

“Hmm,” Harry hums. She finishes off her latte and sets it aside, wondering what task she should tackle next. She’s got a list of things to do a mile long, but no idea where to start. She’d invited Liam along because she thought she would be some help, but it seems she’s just as frazzled as Harry feels. 

“Zayn and Grimshaw said they’d be there,” Liam adds, as if it’ll make a difference. Harry will  _ be _ there. She’s made it to recruitment chair somehow, and some ass kissing will do her well. When rush week is all said and done, the competition is off and they’re all about that “sisterly love” and spreading it to the other houses on campus. 

“Text Niall back and let her know I’ll be there, too, I guess,” Harry agrees begrudgingly. As if what she needed on top of her already busy week was to meet for coffee on the premise of getting to know each other and not the fact that they all want to see how tough their competition is. 

Technically speaking, Harry doesn’t actually dislike the girls in the other houses on campus. Every sorority girl she’s met so far is perfectly nice and pleasant, and some of her best friends are in other sororities. Her roommate, Jade, is actually in Beta and they get along just fine. But the month before rush week, and rush week in particular, nobody is to be trusted. Harry’s been locking her planner and notebooks in a chest and moving all of her sorority related documents to a private folder on her computer.

She can’t be too careful.

Technically speaking again, there’s not really much to hide. They all give altered versions of the same house tour, do arts and crafts for philanthropy night, and boast the same bonds and friendship formations during sisterhood night. The only night that’s really all that different is preference night, when they give the potential new members a peek into their ritual. It’s not even that serious; it’s usually just a song and and stories of sisters pulling through for each other, and all that. Harry had thought it seemed like a cult at first, but it’s grown on her after three years. 

Liam’s phone alarm goes off, startling them both. Harry’s pen streaks across the page she’d been writing on and Liam knocks over her drink right onto the pages of the planner she was almost done correcting. 

“God dammit,” Liam grumbles, jumping to grab napkins. Harry furrows her eyebrows at the unsightly mark on the page, deciding it’s probably just best to rip out the whole page and start over. She hadn’t written anything useful, anyway.

Liam returns and cleans up her mess, packing away her things and saying her goodbyes. She’s got to run to her chemistry class. Quite literally run, since it’s on the other side of campus and she’s running late after having to clean up her spilled coffee. Harry is left alone, still unsure of what she should be doing. She could be buying glitter (Corden had said she could buy as much glitter as she wanted, in the end) or she could be assigning craft projects to some of the members who didn’t already have jobs.

“Harry Styles?” comes a voice from across the table. Harry looks up, surprised to find a decently attractive face attached to the bell-like voice. “Delta Xi, right?”

Harry finds her face forming into the smile she’s learned to perfect over time; the one she always puts on when she’s got to talk to anyone about being in a sorority. It’s the smile that says “I’m perfectly happy all the time and it’s the best decision I’ve ever made. I swear it’s not like a cult at all.” She doesn’t know if ever actually succeeds in sending the message across, but she tries.

“Yes, that’s me,” she answers, trying to keep the confusion out of her voice. She’s never seen the girl standing there, sure she would remember a face like that. The girl’s got sharp cheekbones and an even sharper jawline and the cutest nose Harry wouldn’t mind placing kisses at the end of. “What can I do for you?”

The girl pulls out the chair in front of her and takes a seat without being invited. Harry crinkles her nose at it, unsure why she’s uncomfortable with the slightly bold move.

“My name’s Louis Tomlinson,” she starts. Her voice is confident and unwavering and Harry doesn’t want to love it, but she can’t help it. She’s always had a bit of a thing for authority, and the confidence this girl - Louis - has is close enough. “I’m the new recruitment chair for Beta.”

“Oh!” Harry lets out in surprise. “Nice to meet you.”

Louis rolls her eyes and leans forward, resting her chin in the palm of her hand. “They were right. You are a chipper one.”

“What are you talking about?” Harry asks, feeling slightly offended. She isn’t sure “chipper” is technically an insult, but the way Louis says it makes it feel like one. Especially punctuated with her eye roll. “Do you have anything important to say?”

“Ooh, got some bite to you,” Louis teases, but it’s not friendly in the way Niall or Liam does it. “I just wanted to introduce myself to my competition.”

“Competition? It’s definitely not a competition. We’re supposed to be spreading love and positivity about our own sororities. No need to tear each other down.” Of course, Harry would bad mouth all the other houses at a moment’s notice if it meant reaching their necessary numbers for the year. 

“That’s a bunch of bullshit and you know it,” Louis says matter-of-factly. “We’re competitors. May the best man win, and all.”

“Woman,” Harry corrects. “May the best woman win.”

Louis shrugs, scooting her chair back and standing up. “If you want to be technical about it, yeah.” 

Before Harry can even reply, Louis has stolen her planner off the table and is fast walking out of the coffee shop. She calls over her shoulder as she dashes out the door, too quick for Harry to have even noticed what had happened.

“May the best woman win, Styles!”

*

“And then she just took my planner and ran!” Harry is yelling at her roommate Jade, pacing frantically back and forth in their living room. They share a small apartment just off campus, and it’s decorated with both of their sorority’s letters and colors. It’s a little over the top, and all Harry wants to do is rip Jade’s wooden letters down from where they’re hanging on the wall over their couch. She has to remember it’s not the entire sorority and Jade she’s mad at, just Louis.

“Louis did?” Jade clarifies. She’s sipping from a pastel yellow coffee mug, but Harry has a sneaking suspicion there’s wine it. 

“Yes, Jade,” she sighs heavily. “Keep up!” She stops pacing and slumps down into the couch next to Jade, curling her knees to her chest. Jade extends the mug to her, but she declines with a shake of her head. “Now I don’t know what time any of my meetings are this week.”

“I’ll get it back when I see her at chapter tomorrow, yeah?” is all Jade can really offer, besides her wine in a mug, and Harry sighs in resignation. 

“Would it be wrong to put purple dye in her shampoo?” Harry asks, half joking. She’s just frustrated. She hadn’t even done anything to Louis yet. She was actually being nice, but now if she saw the girl again, she’d try and kick her in the shin.

“Yes.” Jade pauses for a moment, mulling it over. “She lives in the house.”

Harry turns to her with an eyebrow raised. “She lives in the house?”

Jade stands, if not a little wobbly on her feet. 

“I didn’t tell you that.”

*

“Harry, I think this is an awful idea,” Liam whispers beside her as Harry raises a hand to knock on the door of the Beta house. “We could get in a lot of trouble for this.”

“Hmm, we could,” Harry agrees, plastering a wide smile on her face as the door swings open. The Beta president, Grimshaw, is standing there, looking like she always does, perfectly put together and not even a hair out of place.

“Hey ladies!” she greets loudly. She’s got even more chipperness to her than Harry does when she talks to people, and that’s saying something. “What can I do for you?”

“We’re trying to spread a little love before rush week gets here! We know it can be super stressful so we made care packs for the girls living in the house.” Harry lies right through her teeth, broad smile nearly breaking her face in half. Her dimples feel like they’re permanently etched into her skin as she holds her smile, feeling like she’s locked in some kind of duel with the Beta president.

“Aw, that’s so sweet!” Grimshaw says, voice grating. Harry has to physically keep herself from wincing at the sound. “Come on in! Most of the girls are out at a fundraiser, so it’ll be a nice surprise for when they get back. I can’t let you in their rooms, for obvious reasons, but you can come leave it in the mail room.”

She steps aside to let Harry and Liam in the house, shutting the door softly behind them. She leads them down a long hallway, past a lot of doors that say “initiated members only!” and a bright kitchen. Finally, they stop at the last door in the hallway, decorated with a sparkly sign that declares it the mail room. Grimshaw unlocks the door and gestures for Harry and Liam to step in first.

Harry drops the basket she had been carrying on the floor in one of the corners. She’d gotten a list from Jade of all the girls who lived in the house and were on the executive board, and then threw in some goodies for the girls who fell into neither of those categories. All of the packages are super cute, some personalized if Harry knows them, and some just things every girl loves. The only one not cute is labeled “Louis :p” and looks no different from the outside than the other bags.

The inside, however, is a different story. 

Harry had finished up all of her shampoo earlier that morning, so she’d cleaned out the bottle and added it to Louis’ bag. On top of that, she’d added two empty water bottles and a jar of used face mask. To top it all off, she wrote a card that said “one ticket - good for nothing.” Harry was sure the girl was going to  _ love _ it.

Harry spins around and exits the mail room just as promptly as she’d entered, escorted back outside by Grimshaw. Grimshaw thanks them both again, slamming the door shut with unnecessary force as the friendly smile slips off her face. Harry gets it.

Liam and Harry walk back to Liam’s apartment in silence. Harry can feel the nervous energy radiating from Liam’s body.

“Dude, you’ve got to chill,” Harry says sternly as they cross the street. “There was nothing harmful in that basket. And all of the other baskets were actually really fucking cute. I kind of spent a little bit of money and effort on them.”

“I don’t know,” Liam replies as she unlocks the door to her apartment. They’re greeted by the sight of Niall lounging on the couch, one hand deep in a family sized bag of chips and the other flipping through movies on the television. She nods in their general direction but doesn’t say anything. “What if she thinks it’s, like, harassment or something?”

Harry scoffs and rolls her eyes and they walk into Liam’s room, immediately running and jumping onto Liam’s bed face first. Liam has the comfiest bed out of all of her friends. It’s unfair, really. Having such a comfortable bed doesn’t seem to make Liam any less uptight and tense.

“It’s not harassment. Louis would also be an idiot to say something because I’d call her out for taking my planner.” Harry is right and Liam knows it. She doesn’t respond, unlacing Harry’s shoes and pulling them off of her feet for her before climbing on the bed as well.

“I guess you’re right.”

“I know I’m right, now what do you want from that Chinese place down the street? We’re getting take out.” Harry dials the number and calls them as Liam half-heartedly protests.

“I actually bought stuff to make dinner for you!”

*

Louis’ retaliation comes in the form of posting Harry’s phone number on the campus Facebook page, stating that she was looking to sell all of her furniture and in desperate need of someone to take over her lease. The kicker is the reason Louis’ post says she needs someone to take over her lease. Apparently, Harry is sick of her model roommate and all of her friend’s parading around naked. Naturally.

Harry gets maybe fifty or sixty calls just from the first day alone, sure most of them aren’t even students of the university. They’re almost all men, older sounding and definitely creepy. Harry will probably have to get a new phone number.

She’s in the library, trying to concentrate as her phone blows up with text messages and phone calls. Every time she denies one and blocks another’s number, there’s seventeen more coming through. She’d texted her mom and asked how hard it would be for her to get her number changed, but had left her on read when she asked what happened. Harry didn’t feel like explaining the demon that was Louis Tomlinson yet.

“Oh, hi Harry,” comes a whisper shout from about five feet away. Harry looks up from her phone, contemplating snapping it in half, to find Jade and Louis standing there. Jade looks genuinely happy to see her, but Louis has the most devilish grin on her face. 

“Mind if we join you?” Jade asks, already pulling up a chair. Louis shoves one of Harry’s notebooks to the ground as she takes the other empty chair at the table.

“Of course, Jade,” Harry says, almost sincere. She blatantly ignores Louis’ presence as she smiles at Jade and bends to pick up her notebook. As soon as she’s sitting up again, Louis has pushed her other notebook off the table and onto the ground. Harry grits her teeth and picks that one up as well, ignoring the proud look on Louis’ face.

“Hey, Harry, how’s your week been?” Louis asks, not looking at all like she cares. Instead, she flicks a rolled up piece of paper into Harry’s face. “Make it to all of your meetings alright?”

“Yes, actually.” Harry gives her friendliest smile and tries to work on writing her sociology paper. Someone should do some type of social experiment on Louis, she thinks. “Not sure why I wouldn’t.”

“Just wondering,” Louis answers, flicking another piece of paper into Harry’s face. Harry is starting to wonder if Louis is going to do any actual work. Probably not. She’s probably not even actually in school. “I happened to find your planner. I have it, if you want it back?”

Harry looks at her suspiciously, eyes narrowed into slits. “Yes, I would love it back.”

Louis reaches into her bookbag and pulls it out, setting it on the table next to Harry’s laptop. Harry gives the cover a quick glance over, but it doesn’t look like Louis’ done anything to it. Just as she’s about to thank her for giving her back the planner she stole, Louis pushes Harry’s notebooks onto the ground again and leaves without another word. 

Harry stares at her as she walks away, mouth open.

“She’s a weird one,” Jade mumbles next to Harry, where she’s somehow been able to concentrate on her work despite all that had just happened. “I think she’ll be president next year.”

“People in your sorority actually like her?” Harry inquires. She hasn’t found anything redeeming about Louis so far besides how attractive she is, and that can only get her so far.

“Oh yeah, definitely.” Jade doesn’t appear to want to elaborate, highlighting a paragraph in her textbook. Harry’s pretty sure she’s renting that from the bookstore, but doesn’t mention it. At Harry’s silence, Jade sets her highlighter down and looks up. “Despite the interactions you two seem to have, she’s actually super nice and charismatic. People love her. And she’s got incredible ideas.”

“Huh,” Harry says as she leans back in her seat. She closes her laptop and grabs her planner, opening it to see if she’s got anything going on for the next day. 

She doesn’t even bother to try and contain her sigh when she sees that Louis’ gone and scribbled over every page, making the planner unusable. 

*

“Jade, you’ve got to help me get into Louis’ room,” Harry begs. She sets down a bottle of wine on their coffee table, Jade’s favorite brand and the biggest size the store sells. Jade raises an eyebrow and reaches for the bottle wordlessly. “I can’t get into the Beta house without you.”

“Damn straight you can’t,” Jade says as she stands to go grab herself a glass. She grabs her favorite yellow mug from the cabinet, the one Harry has deemed the “wine mug.”

“So you’ll help me?” Harry asks hopefully. She’s got another bottle of wine at the ready is case Jade needs more buttering up. Luckily, it looks like she can keep the other bottle for herself because Jade is nodding and taking a sip.

“Perrie is her roommate,” Jade explains. “As long as you don’t fuck up any of her stuff, she’d definitely let you in.”

Harry squeals way too loudly and causes Jade to startle, spilling some of her wine onto the couch. 

Jade is mad because she’s spilled her wine; Harry is upset because she’s the one who bought the couch.

*

“She’ll be back at six from soccer practice,” Perrie explains to Harry and Liam. She unlocks the door and lets them inside. “So you’ve got about two and a half hours to do whatever it is you guys are going to do and then get the hell out. If Grimshaw sees you and asks what you’re doing, you lie through your fucking teeth. Got it?”

Harry nods, wide eyed and mildly afraid of the girl in front of her. She might even be a little turned on. Liam appears just as afraid, but less turned on, knuckles white where she grips their bags of supplies. 

Perrie doesn’t say anything else before exiting the room, shutting the door and leaving them to it.

Harry looks around the room for any indicator of who might be living on which side of the room. She spots some family photos of Perrie hanging above a bed on one side, and an ‘LT’ above the bed on the other side. Other than these two clues, there’s not much identifying factors. The room’s got kind of an impersonal feel to it.

“Want to run to the library and print out a cute photo of me?” Harry turns to Liam and asks. Liam’s face takes on a puzzled expression, eyebrows pulling together as she tilts her head and stares at Harry.

“Why?” she asks.

“I’m going to pin it to Louis’ corkboard,” Harry answers simply. “Obviously.”

Liam nods slowly. “Oh. Obviously.”

Harry sighs, rolling her eyes and pulling out her phone. “Do it, please? I’ll text you a good one and I’ll venmo you the amount plus a dollar.”

“I’ll do it for free,” Liam says, opening the door and stepping out into the hallway before Harry has time to make a comment about that. In Liam’s absence, she gets to work, pulling out post-its and wrapping paper and scissors. She’s got a short amount of time to get all of Louis’ shit covered in either post-it notes or wrapping paper and now that Liam’s gone, she’s going to have to double down on her efforts. 

Liam is gone maybe thirty minutes, and in that time, Harry’s managed to cover Louis’ desk and desk chair in wrapping paper. She’s working on cover the mirror in post-it notes when Liam returns, picture in hand. 

“Ugh, thank you so much,” Harry gushes, finishing the mirror and turning to the bed. “It’s going to look so sick when everything is wrapped up and then just my face is there.”

“Right, “ Liam says slowly. “That’s why you want Louis to have a photo of you.”

Harry gives Liam a side eye. “I don’t like what you’re implying, so I’m going to ignore it. Help me get the bed.”

They spend the next hour covering Louis’ bed, bookshelf, and wardrobe in wrapping paper. Anything else that’s exposed is covered in post-its. Harry and Liam step back to admire their work, with about fifteen minutes left to spare before they have to get the hell out. It’s messy, nothing wrapped or covered very carefully, but it’ll definitely still be a bitch to clean up. Harry grabs a marker and writes “with love xoxo” on one of the post-its on Louis’ mirror and helps Liam pack up their stuff.

She gets a text from an unsaved number about thirty minutes later that just says “go to hell.”

*

“Five days until bid day!” Corden yells, slamming her hands on the table in front of her. She’s gone and asked all of them to stay after chapter to have an emergency executive board meeting. Harry wants to bang her head into the table and knock herself out. They’ve had emergency executive meetings every day for the past week. Between these emergency meetings, classes, and making sure everything’s done for bid day and recruitment this weekend, she’s completely drained. She actually can’t wait for it to be over.

On top of all of her responsibilities, Louis is still dead set on making her life hell. 

Harry had given up the pranks about two days ago, deciding it was better to halt their war than fail her classes and get kicked from Delta Xi for not living up to her responsibilities. Louis obviously did not have the same problems, if the way she’d woken Harry up this morning at four am by pouring cold water all over her was any indication. Harry was changing the locks and not telling Jade as punishment for letting Louis in.

The meeting is quick, for once, and Harry hurries out of there before anyone can ask her any questions. She doesn’t have any answers for them, anyways. She all but runs back to her apartment, feeling stressed and overwhelmed. She’s not sure how the time slipped away from her, but she’s got ten thousand things to do before Sunday and not nearly enough hours to do them all. She’s beginning to worry she might have to skip a class or two this week.

As she unlocks the door, tired and hungry and grumpy, the last person she expects to see lounging on her couch is Louis Tomlinson. Louis’ passed out, on her back and mouth open, letting out quiet snores. Harry almost thinks she shouldn’t wake her; it’s the most peaceful she’s ever seen Louis.

The desire to find out what Louis could possibly be doing on her couch outweighs the desire to keep Louis sleeping. Harry tiptoes over and bends down, brushing Louis’ hair back from her forehead and gently shaking her. “Louis, wake up, Come on. Lou.”

Louis’ eyes blink open, and she smiles warmly at Harry. Harry feels confused (and mad at her body for the butterflies in her stomach). Harry doesn’t think she’s ever had a look like that directed at her, but especially not one from Louis.

“You called me Lou,” she mumbles, smacking her lips together and sitting up. She seems to realize where she is, shoulders tensing as she quickly stands. “I must have fallen asleep waiting to ambush you.”

“How’d you even get in?” Harry asks, staring wide-eyed at Louis as she collects her things. 

“Jade copied me a key, obviously.”

It’s apparently the thing that breaks Harry, causing her eyes to fill with tears as her chins wobbles. The idea that Louis now has a key and can  _ literally _ ambush her at any time, especially during this stressful week, is just too much to handle. Her shoulders slump and the tears spill over.

She expects Louis to sneak out, uncomfortable with Harry’s emotions. They don’t really know each other too well, despite how often they interact, and Harry doesn’t know if she’d know what to do if Louis broke down in front of her.

Instead, Louis rushes over and pulls them down to the couch, wrapping her arms tightly around Harry’s shoulders. Harry breaks into loud sobs, burying her face in Louis’ shirt, probably getting snot and mascara all over the fabric. Louis doesn’t say anything about it, rubbing soothing circles all over Harry’s back.

Harry isn’t sure how long they sit there like that, Harry ugly crying and Louis trying to calm them down. At some point, Harry hears the door open and Jade come in, but she just leaves them alone on the couch. Eventually Harry stops crying, no tears coming out and her sniffles quieting.

Louis doesn’t let go of her, though. She continues to rub Harry’s back, Harry’s face still tucked into her neck. When the position grows uncomfortable, they break apart and Harry stares at Louis, who looks mildly afraid. Harry doesn’t blame her; she’d probably be afraid if her enemy broke down in her arms too.

“Thank you,” Harry sniffles, knowing how much of a mess she probably looks. “Sorry.”

Louis shakes her head. “Please don’t apologize. We all need a good cry sometimes. Text me if you ever need another good cry and I’ll remember to bring ice cream.”

“Okay, yeah,” Harry giggles, watching as Louis’ eyes crinkle as she smiles. It’s something she’s never noticed before, but it quickly becomes one of her favorite of Louis’ quirks. She’s not sure when she developed favorite things about Louis. 

“I guess I should go home now,” Louis says awkwardly. She stands up from the couch, back popping. Harry stands as well, guiding Louis to the door. She doesn’t want to risk Louis running off and messing with any of her things. 

Louis stands in the doorway for a moment, pausing as she turns to leave. She makes eye contact with Harry, and Harry is about to ask what her problem is when Louis leans in and kisses her quickly on the lips. It’s nothing serious or dirty, just a quick, but firm, press of their lips. Harry doesn’t even really registered it’s happened until Louis is running down the stairs.

Harry really wishes she’d stop running away.

*

“So she kissed you?” Liam asks the next day as they’re painting the bid day sign for the week. Recruitment officially starts tomorrow, so Harry is pleased they’re only running this far behind. After Louis had kissed her last night and run away, Harry had found herself unable to sit still and she’d knocked out like ten things she needed to do.

“Yes,” Harry answers. “Like, the tiniest peck and then she literally sprinted away. I half think she did it as a distraction.”

“Nah, it was real,” Liam counters, sounding confident. Harry stills her paintbrush and looks at the girl, who’s painting an alien onto the white bedsheet. They’re doing a space themed bid day, and Harry is currently working on coloring in the letters for “our new members are out of this world!!!!!!!” 

“Elaborate?”

Liam looks up, pulling her eyebrows in and looking at Harry like she’s dense. Harry kind of feels like she might be missing something. 

“Elaborate?” Liam sounds puzzled. Harry  _ really _ feels like she might be missing something.

“You think Louis really wanted to kiss me?” Harry raises her eyebrows, wondering what exactly she must be missing. Louis hates her guts. That’s been pretty obvious for a while. She also wants to ruin Harry’s life. Last night aside, Louis has never shown any interest in actually liking Harry or wanting to get to know her.

“Uh, yes.” Harry doesn’t reply, waiting for Liam to continue on. Liam lets out a heavy (overdramatic) sigh and sits back, pulling her legs out from under her. “You two have the biggest crushes on each other. Louis talks about you to Niall about as much as you talk to me about Louis.”

“I don’t talk about Louis that much!” Harry sputters out, sounding as fluttered as she feels. 

“Hmm.” Liam doesn’t say anything else, going back to painting the alien on the bed sheet. She’s decided to make them a nice lilac color instead of a neon green, and Harry really appreciates that.

“I don’t,” Harry mumbles, trying to argue, but it’s useless because Liam refuses to listen. 

Now that she thinks about it, she really does spend a lot of time thinking about ways she can prank Louis, but that  _ doesn’t mean anything _ .

*

“One more sleep until bid day!” Corden yells as the door slams shut after the last potential new member leaves for the day. It had been an emotional day; preference night was always emotional. They all gathered round and talked about what Delta Xi meant to them and share a piece of the sorority with the girls. Almost everyone cries and Harry is no exception.

The girls all cheer, lined up in the hallway. Harry herself is exhausted, sandwiched in between Liam and some girl she’s never really gotten to know too well. They have to go write their thoughts about the girl’s they just talked to for the past hour before they don’t remember, but they can afford a few moments of celebration.

The hardest part of Harry’s job is done. Everyone was matched perfectly, conversations flowing well. She doesn’t think they’ll have any problem reaching their numbers this year. She spares a moment to wonder how Beta fared, or if they’ll reach their desired numbers. Harry hopes so, if only for Jade’s sake. 

Once they’ve had their meeting and Harry’s given a presentation on the expectations for bid day, everyone helps clean up and go home. Liam, Corden, and a few others will show up to the house early to help set up before their new members run home. It’s all very silly, but Harry can feel the butterflies in her stomach. 

Harry gets to leave about an hour and a half after almost everyone else, save for the other girls on executive and the ones who are unlucky enough to live in the house. She’s exiting, door shutting quietly behind her, ready to sink into bed and get just a few hours of sleep when she’s startled by a figure at the end of the drive.

Louis is standing there, kicking at the sidewalk with her vans and looking almost nervous. Harry wonders if there’s someone filming somewhere, if this is another one of Louis’ pranks. She prepares herself for the worst as she walks down the driveway to where Louis’ standing.

“Hi, Harry,” Louis greets, face breaking out in a soft smile. She looks almost fond, staring at Harry’s puzzled expression. 

“Hi?” She keeps on walking even once she’s reached Louis, not going to fall victim to a prank today. It’s been a long one, she’s got an even longer day tomorrow, and she’s not got the time. Louis follows her, keeping pace beside her as they take the short walk back to Harry’s apartment. 

“How’d today go?” Louis asks. There’s genuine curiosity in her voice. Harry is  _ afraid _ . It takes all of two minutes for them to reach Harry’s apartment building, Louis following her up the stairs until they reach her door. 

“What are you planning?” Harry asks, narrowing her eyes and tilting her head. They stand outside Harry’s door, just standing there and staring at each other. Harry looks defensive, but Louis still looks perfectly harmless. Harry really doesn’t trust it. Last time she had let her guard down around Louis, she’d given Harry an Oreo that was filled with mint toothpaste. 

“Nothing! I swear.” Louis holds up both her hands, palms exposed. “I’ve got something too good planned for tomorrow to do anything today. It’ll make it all the sweeter to see your face.” 

Harry feels her shoulders relax, and then tense right back up at the realization that Louis is planning something on  _ bid day _ . She grabs Louis by the shoulders and spins her around until she’s pressed against Harry’s door, eyes gone wide. 

“Listen here, you little shit.” Harry tries to go for intimidating, but she knows she’s about as intimidating as a bunny. “If you fuck up my bid day, I will end you. I will make your life hell. You won’t get to wear your letters any more. I will shave your head. I will-”

Harry finds her words cut off by Louis’ mouth, once again pressed to hers. She’s in the middle of speaking so it’s awkward until they figure it out, lips slotting together, Louis gripping Harry’s hips and pulling her in tighter. Harry brings her hands up from Louis’ shoulders to tangle in her hair, soft between her fingers.

Before too long, Louis is letting out these quiet gasps that has Harry digging her fingers in tighter in her hair, Louis fisting her hands into Harry’s dress by her hips, just trying to pull her closer. There’s not really much of a way for them to even be any closer. They’re kissing way too obscenely to still be standing in the middle of the hallway. 

Louis opens her mouth a little wider, slipping her tongue out hesitantly. Harry responds positively, opening her mouth as well and feeling as Louis’ tongue slides against hers. It’s becoming dirty quick, loud gasps and quiet whines filling the otherwise silent hallway. Just as Harry feels like her world has stopped spinning, like maybe she has a grip on the whole situation, Louis flips them so Harry’s the one pressed against the door. The movement causes a loud thump that both of them ignore.

Louis disconnects their mouth, kissing along Harry’s jaw and sucking a bruise right underneath her jawline. She’s in the process of sucking another one when the door swings wide open and they both tumble to the ground in the entryway of Harry’s apartment. 

Harry takes a moment to steady herself, laying on the ground with Louis sprawled over her, to see that Liam, Jade, and Niall are all standing above them, looking down. They must have come to see who was knocking on the door. Harry feels her face light up, pink blush spreading across her cheeks. Louis, to her credit, doesn’t seem phased. She simply straightens Harry’s dress, stands, and offers Harry a hand up.

“Took ye long enough,” Niall mumbles, aiming for quiet but missing. Harry isn’t sure she actually knows how to whisper.

Harry opens her mouth to protest, but shuts it immediately. She really doesn’t know to how respond. She’s flustered and out of breath and confused. Louis isn’t much help, planting a wet kiss on Harry’s cheek and darting out the door.

“She likes to run,” Harry informs the group casually. She brushes past them and heads to her room, stumbling face first into her bed and passing out instantly.

*

Harry can see the Beta house from the porch of the Delta Xi house. She’s just finished hanging their banner, taking a step back to admire the quiet of the street before it’s filled with hundreds of screaming women, when she sees Beta’s banner. Harry wipes at her eyes because she almost can’t believe what she’s seeing. It’s identical to Delta Xi’s banner. The one Harry and Liam spent hours on. There’s aliens in all the same places and stars and planets and even the same kick ass spaceship that had taken Harry hours to do.

She’s fuming as she stomps down the street to Beta’s house. She brushes past Grimshaw who tries to stop her and completely ignores Jade, who does not try to stop her. She is a woman on a mission and that mission is to strangle Louis Tomlinson with her bare hands.

Harry spots Louis talking amicably with another girl from her sorority, easy smiles on their faces. Her smile freezes as she catches eye of Harry approaching, murderous look in her eyes.

“Louis,” Harry grits out between her teeth. “What the  _ fuck _ ?”

“What do you mean?” Louis asks, seeming partly confused. She should stop playing dumb if she knows what’s good for her, Harry thinks. “Is it too much?”

“It’s way over the line!” Harry exclaims, waving her arms frantically. “I put so much effort into today and you’ve gone and ruined it!”

“Ruined it? I wouldn’t say I’ve ruined it per say,” Louis says, corners of her mouth slipping downwards. She actually appears kind of hurt by Harry’s words. Good, Harry thinks. She deserves it. She has no idea why Louis would think this was a good idea. 

“What do you mean? I spent forever on that banner and you somehow found out what it looked like exactly and then stole my idea!” Harry’s voice rises with every word, on the edge of screaming by this point.

“I actually thought it was pretty clever,” Louis defends, looking more pissed than hurt by this point. She sets her mouth in a straight line and crosses her arms over her chest. “I thought it was on brand with what was going on here. Like, the whole pranks back and forth. And then we kissed yesterday and I decided that, yeah, you would maybe appreciate it.”

Harry rolls her eyes. “Yeah, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and all. Whatever. Take it down and go fuck yourself. I thought  _ maybe _ we could be friends after this was all said and done, but definitely not.”

“Harry,” comes Jade’s voice from next to her. “Did you read the sign?”

Harry turns to look at her roommate, who’s got an amused smile on her face. This only pisses Harry off more. She goes to start yelling at Jade now, funnel her anger into someone else, when Jade’s words sink in.

“Read it?” Harry asks, some of her anger deplating and now replaced by confusion. “What’s there to read? It’s just welcoming the new members, and all that.”

“You didn’t read it?!” Louis yells and Harry whips her head back to glare at her. “Go read it, you shithead.”

“Hey, there’s no need for insults,” Harry protests, spinning on her heels and going to read the sign anyway. She’s fully prepared to read the same dumb slogan that she wrote on hers, and actually stops in her tracks when she sees what’s written.

“ _ Harry Styles, go on a date with me? Louis xoxo _ ”

Louis comes up next to her and places a gentle hand on her waist. She leans in so only Harry can hear what she whispers next.

“Fitting, right?”

Harry wants to cry, laugh, and punch Louis in the arm all at the same time. She goes to tell Louis this, but can’t find the words. Louis has actually managed to render her speechless.

“You gonna give me an answer, or what?” Louis asks, confidence faltering the longer Harry stays silent.

“I don’t know if I should,” Harry answers, smirking at Louis.

“Should what?”

“Give you an answer,” she clarifies. “Not sure you deserve one quite yet. I kind of want to make you suffer.”

“Honestly,” Louis breathes out, puffing out her cheeks and raising her eyebrows. “I’d be kind of upset if you didn’t torture me a little before giving me your answer.”

Harry laughs, throwing her head back and leaning into Louis’ touch, her hand still placed on Harry’s waist. 

“I’ll see you tonight at Niall’s?” she asks, placing a gentle kiss on Louis’ cheek. Louis smiles in response and Harry jogs back over to the Delta Xi house, biting her lip to contain her smile. By the time she reaches the house and spins back around for one last look at the Beta house, the banner is already down and replaced by their actual bid day banner. It’s decorated in sea shells and bright fish, reading “ _ Darling it’s better, down where it’s wetter, under the ‘B _ .’” It’s clever, Harry will give that to Louis at least.

The day goes off without a hitch, all things considered. The DJ actually shows up on time and no one has an allergic reaction to the food like last year. Louis stops by for a moment to visit, her and Harry taking a quick selfie in all of their glitter (Harry dumps all the unused glitter over Louis’ head as she’s leaving and Harry knows there’ll be repercussions later). 

Cleaning up is the worst part, all the new members gone and nothing but glitter left behind by them. It takes almost two hours for them to get the house presentable enough for Corden to actually let them leave. It’s Sunday night and they should all definitely be going home, showering, doing homework, and preparing for the school day tomorrow, but Harry and Liam head over to Niall’s anyway.

They’re still covered in glitter when they reach Niall’s apartment, bid day shirts sweaty and hair tangled. Harry doesn’t even raise a hand to knock on the door before it’s swinging open and Louis is standing there, still covered in the glitter Harry poured over her and face nearly breaking in half with her smile. 

“Harry!” she yells, grabbing Harry’s wrist and pulling her inside. “And Liam!” She doesn’t reach for Liam’s wrist, but she throws the girl a warm smile. Louis leads them both into the kitchen, despite it being Niall’s apartment. She’s got two glasses of wine already poured, handing them over and reaching for her own glass. 

Niall is in the living room with Zayn, Jade, and Perrie, arguing over what movie to throw on the television. They’re not even going to end up watching, so Harry’s not sure why it’s such a heated debate. They’re just going to end up talking over the movie until someone gets annoyed and turns it off. 

Louis claims the loveseat for them, pulling Harry down and immediately curling into her. If you had asked Harry even just a week ago if she thought she’d ever be cuddling with Louis, she’d have laughed in your face. Now, she can’t imagine being cuddled up against anyone else. It already feels so natural.

They settle on watching ‘Legally Blonde,’ Niall throwing it on and refilling all of their glasses. She keeps the wine pouring all night, all of them a few steps past tipsy by the time the movie nears to a close. There’s twenty minutes left and Louis is half asleep against Harry’s shoulder, the only one even trying to pay attention any longer. Everyone else is yelling about who had the best theme for bid day. It’s a biased argument, really.

“You didn’t answer me,” Louis mumbles, face smashed against the bone of Harry’s shoulder. She can’t imagine it’s comfortable, but Louis can barely keep her eyes open. It’s the first time Harry’s ever seen her without such a mischievous glint in her eyes. 

“Answer you about what?” Harry asks, half distracted by the movie and half distracted by the argument. Liam is making incredibly valid points about why Delta Xi had the best bid day theme. 

“The date,” Louis slurs, blinking slowly and pressing herself in closer. She blinks again, but this time doesn’t open her eyes, and Harry can hear the tiny snore Louis lets out. It’s endearing really. Harry even finds the drool on her t-shirt endearing. 

An hour later finds Harry helping a still mostly asleep Louis home to the Beta house and then walking back to her apartment with Jade. She almost forgets that she should be expecting a text message from Louis at any moment when she feels her phone buzz as she settles underneath her covers.

Louis has sent her several expletives, threatening murder, and has attached a photo. Harry knows what the photo is before she even opens it.

Attached to the threat that Harry should sleep with one eye open is a photo of Louis with “YES” written across her forehead in bold Sharpie lettering. 

Harry should probably prepare herself for the disaster their first date is sure to be.

**Author's Note:**

> [be my friend](http://microlouis.tumblr.com/)   
>  [request a prompt](http://justgirly1dthings.tumblr.com/)


End file.
